


Oops, Got the Wrong Minyard

by Hajimeru



Category: All For the Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Cupid - Freeform, F/M, Gods, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-12
Updated: 2016-07-12
Packaged: 2018-07-23 16:24:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,464
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7470786
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hajimeru/pseuds/Hajimeru
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which a descendant of Cupid shoots the wrong Minyard in the heart with the golden arrow of love and so chaos ensues.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Oops, Got the Wrong Minyard

Gossip in the mortal realm speaks of the shepherd boy with the cold stone heart and gossip says that his sheep are his only company. Knowing the meddling and prying nature of gods, it’s not surprising that the gods of the wind spread the gossip across many mountains, valleys, and plains. It’s always nice to know what mortals are up to, isn’t it?

A descendant of Cupid spends his boring days drifting with the clouds. One leg is crossed over his knee as he floats with his arms tucked behind his neck. His bow and sack of arrows sit perfectly balanced on his stomach. With his eyes closed in relaxation, Nicky smiles at the sun’s warmth against his skin.

A gust of wind blows from the south and Nicky cracks an eye open as the god of the South Wind swishes by. He hears voices of gossiping mortals carried in the gust of wind:

_I swear I saw the damn shepherd with a boy in the pasture while I was hunting in the woods!_

_Well, was the boy cute?_

_Oh he’s cute but I’ve never seen the kid around this place before. Fucking monster must’ve met the kid during his herding hours. Strange, isn’t it? I thought he only hangs with his sheep._

_Of course he only chills with his sheep. You know that. Clearly, the kid is special since Andrew’s tolerating him._

Nicky’s already swooping down from the clouds with a bright grin on his face. It was just as that mortal woman said. Clearly that kid is special and clearly, this Andrew and that special boy were meant to be.

“Love is in the air,” Nicky sings as he shakes his shoulders gleefully. His beige wings fold around his body like a shield as he does an excited twirl in the sky. All he needed to do was find Andrew the Shepherd, shoot that golden arrow of love and voila, they’d live happily ever after!

...

Later on during his quest to locate the shepherd, Nicky crosses path with the god of the East wind. Nicky flies parallel to the wind current, keeping his ears open for any gossip, and he hears good news.

Word is that the shepherd boy’s got a crush on someone. Word is that _that_ is the reason the shepherd boy spends his days and _nights_ in the pastures. He’s not just herding his sheep; he’s courting with all his might.

How adorable, Nicky muses.

Certain that this mortal Andrew needs some backup, Nicky catches up to the god of the East wind. “Say, you wouldn’t happen to know what this Andrew looks like do you?”

The wind god shakes his head. “Never seen him, but I’ve heard descriptions of him while I traveled.”

Nicky’s grin grows. “What does he look like?”

The god sizes up Nicky, who is tan from days of lazing under the sun and arms toned from years of archery practice, and shakes his head while suggesting, “Word is the mortal hates gods or anyone of godly descent. You’re better off with two wings then none.”

Nicky dismisses the warning with an unconcerned wave. “Don’t worry. I’ll be shooting from a distance.” He points at the leather sack containing his bow and arrows.

The god shrugs. “He’s not too tall, much shorter than you, and has blond hair. Think maybe the color of hay? I don’t know for sure, but that’s one comparison I heard.” 

Nicky pats the god on the back, gives his gratitude, and flies in the direction the god was coming from.

 

* * *

 

Neil is currently on his knees staring at something in the stream when Andrew decides to shove him into the water with a foot to Neil’s back. With a splash, Neil lands on his knees and palms, and then shoots a glare at the shepherd.

“Thanks a lot, asshole.”

“My pleasure,” Andrew says. “You looked like you were having fun staring at your reflection.”

“I was staring at the _fishes_.”

Neil stands up and moves toward Andrew who slides a blade out from his armband. “Try pulling me into the water and I’ll drown you in your own blood and let the stream wash your dead body away.”

“Someone scared of water?” Neil retorts. He splashes water at Andrew. Andrew doesn’t budge or blink, making Neil tilt his head in contemplation. Concerned, he asks more seriously this time, “Are you scared of water, Andrew?”

After a moment of heavy silence, Andrew relents. “Can’t swim.”

Neil glances at the shallow water that only reaches past his ankles and extends a hand to Andrew. “It’s a sunny day today, perfect for a little bit of water, and hey I can teach you in the kid pool.”

“Ha ha,” Andrew says dryly.

Neil shakes his hand. “I’m serious.”

“And stupid apparently,” Andrew replies. He points the tip of his blade at the stream. “You can’t swim in there.”

Neil scratches the back of his head, feeling sheepish, and sits on the grassy ledge, letting the water wet his ankles. He pats the spot beside him instead of touching Andrew’s wrist and tugging for him to sit. Neil looks around Andrew and motions for the sheep to come and drink from the stream.

“Might as well as sit. The sheep need to hydrate themselves.”

Andrew takes a seat after he warns, “I am not getting in the water.”

“No worries, I won’t shove you unlike _someone_.”

Andrew slips the blade back into his armband and strokes a sheep’s fur as it sips water, reasoning, “You looked like you wanted to drown yourself so I helped you.”

“I did not want to drown myself.”

“Your reflection,” Andrew clarifies. Neil lapses into silence as he recalls his reflection in the water. He saw his father’s face staring back at him, waiting for him, watching his every move. If Andrew hadn’t disrupted his staring, Neil was certain he would have seen his father give him that cold-blooded and threatening smile.

“Contemplating whether you should drown yourself or not, hm?” says Andrew casually, as if suicide wasn't irregular. The sheep sits down, tucking its two front legs under its body, and presses up against Andrew’s side. It nudges its head into Andrew's arm. 

“No,” Neil slowly responds as if he’s pulling himself together. He is and Andrew can tell that he is. Neil finishes with, “Just thinking.”

Andrew sweeps his gaze over at the other sheep by the stream, making sure they’re not making problems, and drapes an arm around the sheep beside him. “Try not to drown in your thoughts, Neil.”

That draws a tiny smile from Neil who feels a sheep settle down behind him. “I’ll try not to.”

Neil leans back against the sheep’s comfy coat of fur and shuts his eyes. His arms and hands are placed on top of his stomach, posture at ease. The spring breeze feels nice and cool against his bare arms and face. It had been three months since he last saw Andrew, three months since he came back from the underworld. The living realm was much better, fresher and lighter, and less suffocating than Hades’s kingdom.

As an apprentice of Hermes, Neil comes and goes without a word. He runs errands assigned from Hermes, traveling from the mortal realm to the divine realms, and sometimes he guides mortal souls to the underworld. He disappears for months but he always comes back to see Andrew.

 _You never know what the road brings,_ someone had once told Neil. Neil thinks that it was probably his mother but he’s not certain because the voice is devoid of gender. It’s monotone and flat. If he had to give the voice a visual, it’d be black and white. To be more specific, it’d probably be a blurry black and white visual.

Memories tended to fade over time and that entailed forgetting faces and voices, but that didn’t mean you stopped trying to remember memories. Neil often finds himself trying to recollect his life when his mother was still living and running with him.

_You never know what the road brings, that’s why we’re cutting through forest._

That was it, Neil thought. That was the other half to the person’s words. He had spent a month trying to remember this line and now he was certain this person was his mother.

“Wake up, Neil,” Andrew says, his voice cutting into Neil’s pondering.

Neil sits up, blinking from the exposure to sunlight. “Are we leaving already?”

Andrew’s already up on his feet with the sheep surrounding him. “If we want to make it back to town by sundown, yes. I’m not going to offer myself nor my herd to hungry beasts lurking in the woods.”

“Am I a part of your herd?” Neil decides to ask. He imagines Andrew guiding him with a hand on the back of his neck like how Andrew does to his straying sheep. A hand curved around the neck, nudging at first, and then pushing firmly in the correct direction.

“Are you a sheep?”

Neil grins and pushes himself off the grass. “Nope, I’m a hundred percent human.”

“Then don’t ask questions you already know the answer to,” Andrew retorts and leads the way back.

* * *

 

It’s twilight when Nicky spots the shepherd locking up his wooden pen. A single sheep lays asleep on the grass inside the pen. Sitting up in a tree, Nicky wonders where the rest of the herd is. He sees the mortal sigh and cast a glare into the distance, angrily muttering to himself, “Where is he?”

Nicky nods to himself, piecing the puzzle together now. The special boy was probably herding the rest of the flock back to the pen and Andrew was worried. That’s what it was.

“Oh you cute little mortals,” Nicky says as he pulls out a golden arrow. He prepares to take aim, thinking how wonderful these two mortals’ night will be, and sends the arrow right at the shepherd’s heart.

The mortal freezes as the arrow’s effect seeps into his system. He blinks as the arrow disappears. Nicky happily stifles a giddy giggle behind his hands, feet swinging off the branch, and pales in confusion when he sees a replica of the shepherd coming across the field with a bunch of sheep and another male beside him.

 _Oh he’s cute_ , Nicky remembers the women’s gossip. The man beside the replica shepherd was cute like the woman pointed out. Nicky could feel his head shaking already.

 _Clearly that kid’s special since Andrew’s tolerating him._ Gods no. Nicky hoped that was not Andrew next to the cutie.

“Shit,” Nicky hisses, scrambling to his feet as the ‘shepherd’ runs across the field and embraces cutie with a tight hug. The real Andrew, the real Andrew the Shepherd, turns to look at the love stricken fool and shoves him away from a very confused cutie.

Wait, was that repulsion on the cutie’s face? Nicky wonders. The look on Andrew’s face screams _touch and you lose a limb._  The poor love stricken fool was crying out for the love of his life. The sheep began to chime in with stretched and shaky noises: _baa baa_ and _meh meh._

Nicky gets a good look at all the mortals’ expressions and covers his embarrassed face with shaky hands. Why didn’t the gossip say anything about Andrew having a twin?

Damn these mortals. 

* * *

 

“Neil, oh Neil, love of my life!” Aaron cried out. “I love you so much, Neil. Let us wed and live in holy matrimony for eternity!”

Andrew had his knife out in the open and pointed at Aaron, who was still sane enough to keep his distance. Neil, on the other hand, was shielded from Aaron because Andrew stood in front of him.

“Do you think he’s drunk?” Neil asked.

“Doubt it. I hid my alcohol before we left.” Andrew barked an order for Aaron to stay put or else he’d cut a hand off.

“That’s a little extreme, Andrew,” Neil said. “Aaron’s obviously not in his right mind. Some thing must have happened while we were out.”

“Clearly,” Andrew echoed. Everyone knew Aaron didn’t get a long with Neil. The two acted as if neither existed and only acknowledged each other when circumstances called for it. For Aaron to suddenly forget about Katelyn and serenade Neil with love poems, it was a nightmare and a very shocking one at that.

Neil looked over his shoulder and stared back at the wood they just exited.

Andrew noticed and jeered, “Gonna run away now, Neil?”

“Actually, I was looking for a place to vomit. Wouldn’t want to stain your property.”

“How generous of you,” Andrew said as he stepped back. His eyes never left Aaron as he asked Neil, “Yes or no?”

“Yes,” Neil said, though it sounded more like a confused yes. Andrew gripped Neil’s arm and began to usher them into his house. They walked backwards together and each step they took, Aaron pursued.

“You’re staying with the sheep tonight,” Andrew said.

“But Neil!” Aaron reached out yearningly like Neil was too far. “I wish to sleep with him tonight! We’ll make glorious love all night long.”

It was Neil’s turn to grip Andrew’s arm and hold him back. “Andrew, Andrew,” Neil said hurriedly, “Look at me, Andrew. I said _look at me._ ”

Andrew turned his head and glared. “You better not tell me something stupid.”

“Like what? This situation’s already crazy enough.”

Andrew tapped his knife on Neil’s shoulder. “You like adding oil to the fire.”

“Well not this time.”

“Get inside the house.”

Neil didn’t let go of Andrew’s arm. “What are you going to do to him?”

“I’m doing what I said I was going to do. He’s sleeping with the sheep tonight. I’m going to tie him up and let him come back to his senses. Fuck it if it rains tonight.”

“And what about Katelyn?” Neil asked, daring to dart a glance at Aaron who blew a kiss in return for Neil's attention. Even if it was for a few seconds. Neil shook off the shudders. “She’ll come to us when he doesn’t come back.”

Andrew flashed Neil a sharp, dangerous smile. “I guess we’ll have the privilege of seeing her get her heart broken, won’t we? Aren’t you glad you’re so loved, Neil?”

“Do not make me puke in your house.”

“Do it and I’ll make you eat your own vomit, now get your ass inside.”

“We’re going to fix Aaron,” Neil steely said as he opened the door. “Katelyn is not going to lose him. You are not going to kill him. I am staying with you, Andrew, and only you.” 

Andrew waved him off as he approached his twin. “Time’s ticking. Better figure something out, Neil.”

**Author's Note:**

> i wanted to write something with gods and things gone wrong and ridiculously absurd pining and ofc chaos.  
> ps: love struck Aaron's soundtrack is backstreet boy's Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely.  
> lmao  
> all for you, neil~
> 
> tbc


End file.
